Individualized Instruction and the Teaching of Arabic Phonology and Script.

Rammuny, Raji M.

In recent years, individualized instruction has been gaining popularity in foreign language teaching. The results obtained from experimentation with this new approach has offered new insights into methods of teaching and students' needs. This article is based on experimentation with "A Programmed Course in Modern Literary Arabic Phonology and Script" prepared by Ernest McCarus and the author in 1969. The program was used by four classes of first year Arabic of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan. First, the article presents a description of the programmed materials, disclosing their nature, scope and layout. Second, it attempts to evaluate their effectiveness in facilitating the learning of Arabic sounds and writing systems. And third, it analyzes the results achieved in terms of their pedagogical implications. (Author)